


You Aren't a Stowaway if Everyone Knows About It

by scrapmetal



Series: Commander Boba Fett [1]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Commander Boba AU, Force-Sensitive Clones (Star Wars), Gen, he'll get better eventually dw, obi-wan doesn't know how to think about the clones and at this point hes too afraid to ask
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25906117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrapmetal/pseuds/scrapmetal
Summary: “Is… Who is that, commander?”“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”Obi-Wan first sees his clone commander with a child sitting on his shoulders. Except no he doesn't <3
Relationships: Boba Fett & Obi-Wan Kenobi, CC-2224 | Cody & Boba Fett, CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: Commander Boba Fett [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880080
Comments: 13
Kudos: 309





	You Aren't a Stowaway if Everyone Knows About It

**Author's Note:**

> i have too many multichapter fics on my hands so this au is just going to be a collection of random one shots. to pace myself! i have another one that's almost done but i figured this one would have to be published first for... context. lots of context.

Obi-Wan didn’t quite know what to think when he first met the clone commander that was apparently going to work under him for however long this  _ war _ was going to last. He especially didn’t know what to think about the entire ten year old child resting on the commander’s shoulders. 

“Is… Who is that, commander?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

And those were the first words Obi-Wan exchanged with his commander. Really, he should've known better than to just come out and ask right out of the gate, but his curiosity got the better of him. If the commander wasn’t going to say anything though, Obi-Wan wouldn’t push, even if an entire random child on board was very much against protocol. The blatant rule breaking in the face of authority was almost admirable, but Obi-Wan just hoped that the commander’s rebellious streak only extended to lost younglings. 

Obi-Wan might've been tempted to be suspicious of the commander’s apparent kidnapping of a child, but the youngling didn’t seem too upset with the situation. Well, they  _ did _ look upset. More than upset actually. They seemed entirely listless, their dark brown eyes, which Obi-Wan assumed would usually be full of life, were dull and full of pain. But Obi-Wan could sense that the commander’s presence was not the cause of it. If anything, the youngling was gaining amusement from the staggered conversation he was having with Obi-Wan. 

“The records have you listed as CC-2224,” Obi-Wan started. He couldn’t believe that all the men under him didn't have  _ names. _ He would continue calling the commander just that- the commander- for as long as he could. Perhaps he could find them all names later, if they'd allow it...

“You can call me Commander Kote if you find that morally reprehensible, sir.” Was that… snark? The commander’s tone remained professional, but the youngling almost giggled, so maybe it was.

“Oh, right. Of course. Of course you have names… I, ah. Cody? Did I hear you right?” It  _ sounded _ like he had said something like kote, Mando’a for glory, but Cody would be much more likely.  _ That _ was an actual name. 

“Sure,” Cody replied, a small hint of amusement in his voice.

Obi-Wan didn’t really know what that was supposed to mean. “Well, I look forward to working with you, Commander Cody.”

“And with you, general.”

Cody saluted before turning and walking down the long hallways of the ship, his young friend still with him, of course. It was strange to think that Obi-Wan would practically live with this man for… Months? Years? However long this war lasted. 

It took Obi-Wan a day to realize that he recognized the child. He was Fett’s son, and although Jango had died in the arena at Geonosis, Obi-Wan wasn’t quite sure why Boba was with his father’s clones, much less Cody specifically. Cody hadn’t even  _ been  _ at Geonosis. And seeing the face of your dead father around every corner must be painful, right?

At least it seemed that Boba was there out of his own volition. Otherwise Obi-Wan wouldn’t’ve gone along pretending that Boba didn’t exist like all of the clones did. He had no idea what was going on with that, but he had to be able to trust his troops, and since every single one of them feigned naivete whenever Obi-Wan mentioned Boba, he trusted that they had a valid reason for doing so.

It took Obi-Wan about a week to realize that Boba wasn’t going anywhere. There were plenty of opportunities for him to leave, plenty of planets he could’ve hopped off at and been… relatively fine. Relatively. But Boba didn’t seem to be hitchhiking. After every battle he would hide (not well enough) in the vents, studying the faces of the clones that passed him, before letting out an almost unbearable amount of relief upon seeing Cody. Really, Obi-Wan had no idea why his emotions projected so hard at times, but he didn’t think too much of it.

The amount of sneaking around Boba was able to do was impressive, Obi-Wan almost never saw him, but he was always aware of his presence. From the infuriatingly subtle pranks he pulled, to the affectionate mentions among the men of the “little tooka” that had infested the ship, to the overheard snippets of hushed conversations in Mando’a where one of the voices was just a little too high to be anyone else… And wasn’t that something? Obi-Wan had no idea the clones spoke Mando’a. Conversations with Boba occurred almost entirely in the language, and after an embarrassing amount of time Obi-Wan realized it was so he and other non-clone officers wouldn't understand what they were saying. He almost felt guilty that he could. 

It took a month for Obi-Wan to fully realize that, despite his attempts, Boba wasn't going to be able to hide forever. The number of officers that weren't clones (natborns, Obi-Wan had noticed the troops had called them) had increased drastically, and one had caught a glimpse of Boba through the door of the clone barracks for a very split second. After everyone telling the poor officer that they probably just saw wrong, Boba seemed to have gotten away with it, but Obi-Wan’s confidence in the longevity of Boba’s stay waned.

So Obi-Wan called Cody into his quarters to talk, which wasn't really a thing they did. Privacy was obviously readily needed though, and Obi-Wan didn't really know where else the two could get it. 

Cody seemed extremely tense as he entered the room, more tense than Obi-Wan would’ve expected. Obi-Wan wanted to think he knew Cody better now, a month into the war, than when they'd first spoken. But still, at tense moments like these he couldn't help but think that Cody was holding something back. Considering the entirety of the Boba situation, it seemed very likely. 

“I'm going to start off by saying that no one else can hear us in here. I know we’ve all just been… Silent about the issue, but we really need to talk about Boba.”

Cody sighed, looking absolutely defeated. Obi-Wan had never seen him like this, so… Exposed. 

“Please, be at ease. You can sit.”

Cody sat. 

“I don't… I don’t know what to do, general, he has nowhere to go.”

Obi-Wan sighed. “Are you absolutely sure he has no family anywhere? I trust that you've checked but… This  _ is  _ a Republic battle cruiser. If nothing else we could maybe find a nice foster family for him..?”

Cody gave Obi-Wan a strange look. “General, what do you think my connection to Boba is?”

“I, um,” Obi-Wan was slowly starting to realize where his thinking had failed him, “I had always assumed you and your siblings had taken him in out of the goodness of your hearts?” 

“Goodness of our hearts…” Cody looked at Obi-Wan in disbelief, “I'd sell that little demon off for an extra cup of caf most days. General, Boba's my  _ brother,  _ and with all due respect you're a fucking idiot for not seeing that sooner.”

Obi-Wan sat in stunned silence. He didn't know Cody had it in them. He didn't know… Lots of things about Cody, apparently. Apparently there was actually something under his professionalism, not that Obi-Wan had ever bothered to look. Cody was right, he was a fucking idiot. 

“Sir,” Cody urged, clearly impatient.

“Well it seems it would be cruel to tear more family members away from him. Are you the closest to him out of… All of you?”

Cody nodded easily. “We grew up together, he's always been there. My little older brother.”

“Your little older…” Obi-Wan shook his head. “Boba's older than you?”

Cody frowned. “You were there on Kamino, they had to have told you about the age acceleration.”

“They did, it just never occurred to me that Boba could be… He's so  _ small.” _

Cody shrugged. “You get used to it after a few years, but yeah, Boba was the first clone.”

Obi-Wan sighed. “Alright, I'll admit, it's probably best to keep Boba on the Negotiator, I'm just not quite sure how to even begin figuring out how to arrange that.”

“Well you're lucky to have me then, because I already have two ideas in mind.”

“Oh?” Obi-Wan wasn't expecting that, but this was Cody, and he at  _ least  _ knew Cody was an excellent strategizer, so he probably should've.

“Because clones of any type are unable to become republic citizens, Boba's in sort of a legal grey area. He is not Kaminoan property like the rest of us, but he won't be able to gain any of the benefits that come with being a fully recognized sentient by the republic… This is another reason why we can't, say, put him in an orphanage. Not that I want that for him. Anyways, under the GAR regulations, Boba would qualify as an adult, so, if we were somehow able to register him into the GAR and under Kamino, he would be old enough to be a soldier and therefore would not be a random stowaway civilian.”

Obi-Wan frowned. “Making him a soldier would require him to go into battle though, right? Are you trying to convince me to put a child on a battlefield?”

Cody smiled tightly. It was clear he had already thought about that for much longer than Obi-Wan had. “That brings me to my second idea! You could take him on as your padawan.”

“I can't just take on anyone as a padawan, Cody. They at  _ least  _ have to be force sensitive.”

“Yeah I know,” Cody replied with a shrug, “wouldn't’ve suggested it if Boba wasn't. Did you not… Realize? I thought you could all feel each other, Boba sure can sense your presence. Says you're like a warming ray of sunlight, but when you're wearing all black and really don't need it.” 

Obi-Wan chuckled slightly at Boba's description of his force signature. He hadn't heard that one before. “Sometimes force sensitive children that don't obtain formal training still are able to develop shields on their own, and some can become quite hard to sense if it's put in place to avoid their force sensitivity being noticed. I would have to see him up close to determine just how force sensitive he is though. Generally, anyone older than around three or four would not be able to enter the order, but exceptions have been made before…”

Cody held up a finger and stood up. They searched the roof for a few seconds before finding and opening a vent and, after a few moments of sticking their head up into the space, they came back down with an especially grumpy looking Boba in their arms.

“Gar ru tengaanar ner cuyam,” Boba muttered. Cody just rolled his eyes.

“Don’t worry Boba, I won’t tell anyone about it,” Obi-Wan said with a smile.

Boba’s eyes narrowed and Cody stilled. Obi-Wan realised belatedly that neither of them knew he spoke Mando’a. Oh well, it would’ve come up eventually. 

“Well here he is, general. You can do your Jedi thing now and see if you think you’d be able to take him on as a padawan.”

Boba’s nose wrinkled at the mention of becoming a padawan, but he didn’t protest. Cody must’ve talked about all this with him beforehand. Good man.

“Now, I’m going to need you to lower your shields, Boba. Do you know how to do that?” With untrained force sensitives, it was sometimes hard to lower shields, especially if they weren’t aware they had them. 

“What? What the fuck are you- oh wait.” Boba’s face scrunched up in concentration, and then suddenly every ounce of extra force that had been locked up behind his shields flowed freely. “Like this?”

Obi-Wan sent his gratitude towards Boba in the force, and he just frowned and became all prickly in return. Fair enough.

While Boba’s presence in the force was not at all lacking in the responsiveness that came with force sensitivity, it was not enough to convince Obi-Wan that anyone would’ve ever selected him to become their padawan even if he  _ had  _ been raised in a creche. 

“Well…” Obi-Wan started, tone grim.

Boba huffed and his neat little shields slammed back up. “Told you, Kote.”

“Well we still have my first idea,” Cody said, though he didn’t seem too confident. 

“It might be hard to convince anyone that Boba counts as an adult. No one who’ll be in charge of this will really be benefiting from the loophole in this case.”

Cody sighed. “You’re right.”

“De ka’ra, ni ven’kyr'amur ash’ad meg kebbur dar’tomer ni teh ner aliit!” Boba exclaimed, probably sounding more upset than he intended. 

“Hopefully it won’t get to that point,” Obi-Wan said as Cody gathered Boba into his lap. He really had no idea how he had missed that Cody and Boba were close, it was rather obvious.

The three sat in silence for a long moment, Boba absently playing with Cody’s hand. When Obi-Wan called Cody into his quarters, he hadn’t really expected for it to end up like this. Boba was there, for one, but Obi-Wan wasn’t expecting to end up trying to defend his place on the  _ Negotiator _ . 

Cody eventually, hesitantly, broke the silence. “Force sensitive people need training, right? In order to control it? Boba was… very unsettling sometimes before he found out he was force sensitive, but then we started figuring out how to make his passive emotion reading not feel he was seeing all your sins from a glance.”

Obi-Wan chuckled slightly. “That's why we take in force sensitive younglings so young, things can get… strange when you aren’t trained.”

A sort of smile suddenly appeared on Cody’s face. “Well, why don’t we propose some sort of… Partial padawanship for clones then? There are a decent amount of force sensitive clones that make it out of Kamino, and we’re all already working with Jedi anyways. Wouldn’t the Jedi want to make sure that the force sensitive clones working under them have basic training? No training could potentially be dangerous, I think. So when you go up to whoever to bring up the possibility, you just say it’s for clones, keep it vague. Don’t mention who Boba is at all. Trap them into accepting Boba as the first to participate in the training before you even mention him.”

Obi-Wan thought through the plan slowly. “If it's not an actual padawanship… And I don't even bring up the program as being similar… Maybe make sure that the role carries a set rank… Commander, maybe? Like with padawans, to make sure the power imbalance between the master and the student isn't too large. Then Boba will get into the GAR through the new program alone… This might… Actually work?”

“Don't sound too surprised, general. You've never disliked any of my plans,” Cody said, grinning. He looked excited, even though neither of them even knew if the plan would actually work. Just the hope was enough, enough to wipe the stress off his face. 

“He likes your plans because he can't strategize for osik,” Boba grumbled under his breath, “I could beat him at holochess with my eyes closed.”

Obi-Wan laughed. Boba seemed just as grumpy as when he arrived, but he knew the kid was feeling some sort of relief at the plan. Perhaps not too much, considering what he was about to get thrown into, but enough.

“Well, I'm going to start drafting what I'll say to the council. I'm good with words, but it's going to take some masterful negotiations to pull this off.”

Cody nodded and stood up. He was still carrying Boba, who was hanging limp in his arms with a frown on his face. “I'll leave you to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> and then obi-wan pulls the biggest prank the council has ever seen
> 
> Mando'a Translations:  
> kote- glory  
> Gar ru tengaanar ner cuyam- You revealed my hiding spot/refuge  
> De ka’ra, ni ven’kyr'amur ash’ad meg kebbur dar’tomer ni teh ner aliit!- By the stars, I'll kill anyone who tries to separate me from my family!  
> osik- shit


End file.
